 ©P.E.Blanche 1998
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Manston
- St. Catherine's Church
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|
©P.E.Blanche 1998
|
Manston
- St. Catherine's Church
|
This is a mid-Victorian Church which was originally built as a "chapel-of-ease"
to St. Laurence Church in Ramsgate which is not that far away as the crow
flies. The Foundation stone was laid 18th july
1873. It stands on the cross-roads behind the War Memorial in the village
of Manston on a fairly small plot of land. Consequently, it has no graveyard
and although I believe it to have had a close association with the local Manston
air-field, I found Wargraves of pilots that were stationed at Manston at the
nearby Margate Cemetery. A newspaper article Thanet Advertiser states, "nearly all those who
were instrumental in building the church have passed away, and we, the heirs
of their labours desire to day to acknowledge our indebtedness to their efforts."
The land was given by Rev. G.W.Sicklemore who was the then Vicar of St. Lawrence.
The plans were drawn up by the Late Archbishop Tait and the Late Mr. W.J.
Bartlett of Manston Grove, this being a properous farm who resided in Manston
between 1861 to 1881 according to the census returns. It was built for the
people at Manston as the nearest Parish Church at St. Lawrence was two miles
away, and although normally a nice journey, in bad weather the villager were
unable to attend church.*
The Church had no printed history but was proudly shown a brass plaque near the altar that indicates that some money for the building of the Church was provided by Andrew Carnegie. At the moment, I have absolutely no idea whether there is any direct connection. Perhaps gifts were made to the Church in general and shared around. One of these days I will try to investigate this matter further.
The building itself has been described as ugly and I must say that it is
certainly not attractive from the outside. However, it has a very neat and
trim interior which I found quite pleasing.
(*My thanks to Lynette
for the information contained in this paragraph.)
